CD Projekt Group, the company behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher franchise developer CD Projekt Red, is taking a fierce stance against the invasion of Ukraine by halting sales of its products to Russia and Belarus.
— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) March 3, 2022
In a statement posted to Twitter, CD Projekt said that sales to players in Russia and Belarus have been halted “until further notice.” This applies to all sales of both physical and digital games developed by CD Projekt Red, as well as “all games distributed on the GOG platform.” CD Projekt’s decision marks the first time that an entire storefront has effectively been shut off for Russian and Belarusian users.
Today’s decision by CD Projekt Group isn’t the first action the company has made in support of Ukraine. The Polish games company has already pledged to donate the equivalent of $243,000 to a Polish humanitarian organization working in the besieged country. Numerous other game developers in Ukraine and Poland have also called for fans and industry peers to assist Ukraine any way they can.
CD Projekt Group’s GOG launcher may not be the only PC gaming platform that will be shut off to Russian users due to the war. Recently, Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, called on all “game development companies and esports platforms” to ban Russian and Belarusian accounts. The Ukrainian government official singled out two gaming companies specifically: Microsoft and Sony. If those two platforms decide to take action against Russia, the country’s population would effectively be cut off from purchasing video games.
